Tokyo, being a vibrant, world-class metropolis, is home to hundreds of small musical venues ("live houses") which offer everything: the top names in the jazz world, rock and punk, piano parlor music, ethnic music from Asia, China, Korea, Africa, India, among others, as well as American and European folk singing, rap, experimental music, intimate jazz performances. One needs only to look at the listing in the ubiquitous weekly events magazines to find all kinds of music to fit one's tastes and budget.

Well, not quite all kinds of music. In spite of Tokyo's international and eclectic musical scene, there were no live houses where one could hear hogaku: traditional Japanese music. Granted, there are a few min'yo sakaba bars stuck in places like Asakusa where one can hear live performances of Japanese folk songs, but these places, if you can find one, usually have a regular clientele and it is not easy to go alone.

This all changed when the hogaku live house Waon opened its doors last April. Waon is co-owned and managed by Sachio Suginuma, a shakuhachi player turned entrepreneur. It is his dream and business knowhow which is making this small live house into a much-talked-about phenomenon.